Kingdom of Lusits
The Kingdom of Lusits is a realm rich in history, culture, and civilization. From the fall of the desolate Elven Empire to its eventual subordination under the Regalian Empire, Lusits has idly watched the world spin from its shimmering coasts of eastern Daendroc, duly enjoying the luxuries of domestic peace and prosperity. Today, Lusits finds itself atop a political pedestal within the Regalian Empire, having won its position with the marital union between the Queen of Lusits and the Emperor of Regalia. This union, however, sparks the potential for immediate conflict. For centuries, Lusits has been set on a stagnant course of content living and idle fortune, however, the ever-volatile politics of the Regalian Empire and the competitive international stage threaten to splinter the kingdom into chaos as the budding city-dwelling middle class express their concerns. History Prior to the Cataclysm, the Elven Empire held Lusits as a colonial tributary state under what was the colonial realm of Ithania. Ithania, at the time, was unique in its treatment to Ailor, and other colonial subjects. Forming the majority of the population at the time, the native Daendroque Ailor of Lusits and Ithania were granted what was essentially citizenship, though the legal status of the non-Elven people varied from province to province. Prosperity ensued, both for the Elven Empire and the inhabitants of colonial Lusits until the coming of the Cataclysm and the consequent collapse of the Elven Empire. Racial tensions among the lesser Ailor citizens and the upper class Elven rulers persisted aggressively, a rather vibrant contrast from the Ithanian Ailor to the north. The fall of the Elven Empire in the year 11 A.C. gave way to the “Le mars de l’orchidée”, the Ithanian independence movement that saw the peaceful deposition of the Elven nobility. Meanwhile on the eastern coasts of Daendroc, a violent series of revolts saw the Elven masters brutally butchered and thrown from Lusits, Ailor supremacy sentiments duly rising. These series of revolts and crises was dubbed, ”O Despertar da Glória”, or “The Awakening of Glory”. For weeks, rabid xenophobia against any non-Ailor rose sharply, thereby causing Ailor all throughout the coastal settlements of Lusits to hang, burn, quarter, and massacre whole non-Ailor communities. The most radical of these revolutionaries even set Elven places of worship ablaze, figures of Estel and tombs of faith burned and destroyed accordingly. These Elven pogroms would continue inconsistently for decades, anti-Elven sentiments well-embedded into the foundation of Lusits and its culture. The “O Despertar da Glória” saw three immediate effects: The establishment of the Republic of Lusits, the socio-religious conflicts that characterized much of early Lusitsian history, and the growing sentiment of Lusitsian nationalism. While the pogroms continued, the question of leadership sprung immediate potential for even more conflict. This worry never materialized, thankfully, due to the work of a few well-off Ailor families in Portimao. Taking advantage of the growing vigors and nationalistic fervor, the families essentially organized many of the systematic massacres against the Elves to boost their reputation and opinion among the common Ailor. By then, much of the influence in Portimao and thereby the entirety of Lusits was equally divided and distributed among five families. Eventually, things quieted down and the years of slaughter began to decline. In the month of June in 11 A.C., the five families assembled and outlined the formation of the Republic of Lusits, a merchant oligarchy in practice but republic by face. Elections were held among the five families and Afonso of the House de Lobo claimed the throne of the Serene Doge. Afonso de Lobo’s reign as Serene Doge would be the greatest golden era Lusits would maintain. The longest reigning ruler in the realm’s history and a man all too capable in his administration of the new republic, Doge Afonso would later be called “Doge Afonso o Magnífico”, or, Afonso the Magnificent. Doge Afonso, upon his election, immediately curbed the powers of the other four families, cementing his and his family’s own power in administration and rule. To keep the other four families docile and tame in the face of their strip of power, Doge Afonso lent much of his efforts during his early reign into a national, standing army. Within half a decade, various state-made and state-funded militias kept order and solidified the Doge’s absolute control and authority. Doge Afonso de Lobo’s reign is also characterized by two feats: his domestic caretaking and victory against the upstart Thellassia’s attempts to bring Lusits back into what they were dubbing their ‘Elven Empire’. With his authority cemented both legally and with arms, Doge Afonso de Lobo instituted a plethora of small policies to bring Portimao and other significant cities in Lusits to an economic climb. Elaborate tariffs were instituted along with the establishment of city-wide guilds and unions. Companies were even being nationalized, namely the lumber markets that thrived in the desolate inland provinces of Lusits. By the year 57 A.C., one of the later years of the Doge’s reign, an Elven host from the western realm of Thellassia found itself marching towards Portimao. Through sheer luck, season rains muddied the battleground, with the Lusits defense placed on a wide hill just a distance away. Strategic maneuvering saw the Elven host decimated at the hands of the inferior Lusits army. The remaining Elven troops fled and a peace treaty was never properly signed, as the Elven Empire’s political integrity was nonexistent, the failures of other reclamation campaigns ending in equal disaster. The streets of Portimao were made rivers of wine and joy, celebration lasting for days on end. When Doge Afonso the Magnificent died of a pox in the year 59 A.C., the Republic of Lusits found itself at an almost incomparable height. Coffers were overflowing, the people were overwhelmingly happy, and trade was growing independently. The political systems and policies that Doge Afonso de Lobo created even outlined a successor -- his grandson. By then, the four elector families were desperately impoverished and forgotten, their votes a mere courtesy and even deemed unnecessary. With the ascension of the late Doge’s grandson, the Republic of Lusits was set on a path of idle stagnation, whereby the people of Lusits enjoyed what Doge Afonso had diligently created. Decades would pass, and each de Lobo doge with it. Every ruler after Afonso paled significantly in comparison, attempts at campaigns of conquest or sweeping domestic reforms almost always failing in the end. With each failed work for glory or prestige, the integrity of the Republic of Lusits suffered with it. The only positive event following Doge Afonso the Magnificent’s death was Lusits’ victory against the Elven Resurgence of Medlem Talar and Thellassia between 122-136 A.C. However by the year 150 A.C., people by the thousands were migrating north to Ithania, the land’s Gem Boom attracting many who desired more riches than allocated for them at home. This would be the beginning of Lusits’ decline, the subsequent rulers during and after the Gem Boom unable to maintain their fluxing economy and social culture with each wave of migrants leaving. It was then that Lusits began its proactive diplomatic policies, forming trade alliances and networks among the many independent city-states and nations all throughout Aloria. In essence, it was the Gem Boom that sparked Lusits’ notoriously aggressive methods of trade and commerce, cut-throat business blending smoothly with international politics. The Republic of Lusits sat stagnant for less than a century before the landing of Regalian hosts and Regalian naval blockades. In the year 240 A.C., Morgann Kade, Arch-Chancellor of the Regalian Empire, has declared war on the Republic of Lusits on the basis of conquest. Regalia has had heavy involvement in Lusits’ political atmosphere ever since their subjugation of Ithania in the year 131 A.C., however, aggressions from the growing superpower were entirely unexpected. With their military horrendously underfunded and still in disrepair from the war against the Elven Resurgence less than a century ago, the Republic of Lusits immediately sued for peace. After two months of negotiation, the Sunset Treaty was signed and made canon by both Regalia and Lusits. The treaty essentially outlined Lusits’ peaceful subjugation under the Regalian Empire with a few attached terms: The Republic of Lusits was abolished and replaced with a monarchy, with the House de Lobo as the royal family. This change was made as to normalize government structures among the vassalized states under the empire, along with giving the opportunity to easily reformat and normalize laws in Lusits to parallel Regalia’s own administrative systems. Beyond that, the terms mostly outlined the payment of annual tribute to the Regalian Empire. In the end, the Kingdom of Lusits maintained a large amount of sovereignty from the empire, especially as the realm was mostly self-sufficient in terms of trade, food production, and even military with new grants from Regalia, as dictated by the Sunset Treaty. Recent History After the vassalization of the kingdom, Lusits saw its gradual rise from its potential collapse. Being under Regalia allowed diplomatic openings and trade opportunities never seen before, along with the empire’s abundant pool of skilled bureaucrats and learned administrators. The recent Elven War, a conflict characterized in its conquests of the last fledgling Elven kingdoms, saw the realms of the kingdom greatly expanded eastward. Subjugation became synonymous with the ruling monarch of the time, Queen Juliana-Desideria ‘the Mad’ de Lobo, her and her government’s policies actively cementing their authority over the newly claimed Talar kingdoms, duly shuffled and redelegated into what is known as the Elven State. However, there are still bubbling conflicts, most notably in Haelstram, a city-state where crime and disorder go hand in hand. Later conflicts against the Regalian Empire saw the Kingdom of Lusits pulled back into the fold. The early part of the war with the Qadir’iyye reached its climax when Queen Juliana-Desideria de Lobo wed Emperor Alexander I, thereby initiating Lusits’ active participation in the war against the Qadir. While the wars continued, however, the ever-growing middle class that constitutes for a sizable portion of the relevant population began to express its distaste. With Lusits having always been an economic player in Aloria, the capital of Portimao saw the birth of city-dwelling cast that held substantial amounts of wealth and influence, almost paralleling the clouded and uninvolved nobility. Guildmasters, artisans, and well-off merchants, the middle class of Portimao has begun clustering into various political factions and push groups, the most radical of which seek to depose the monarchy in favor of a republic and the more moderate seeking a senate or parliament for representation. With a history as rich as its coffers, Lusits is often described as the prized jewel of Daendroc. However, with the new tests of aggressive Regalian politics and the brewing of internal conflict, one can hardly tell what the future looks like for this ancient gem. Etymology Lusits is a Commonized form of the Elven term for the coastal regions of Lusits today, then known as Lusitsiarré. Meanwhile Portimao, the largest city and the kingdom’s capital, has its origins among the ancient vernacular tongue of the old Daendroque-Parcal people. The name roughly translates to Sea Port or Port by the Sea. The name itself duly reflects on the city’s early establishment and notoriety for its hand in trade and seafaring. Geography Lusits shares the more tamed and calm section of Daendroc. Featuring rolling hills, vast plainlands, sweeping forests, and gentle shorelines, Lusits is almost a picturesque land. However, while much of this land is certainly fertile and ready for settlement, much of Lusits’ population and centers of government lay on its eastern coasts, where the waters are a paradise calm and the sand is a pristine white. Most of Lusits, or rather, most of Lusits that happens to be inhabited, lays on its eastern coasts. Major cities and ports dot the pearly beaches running north to south on the sizable portion of the northern Daendroc kingdom. Up to 80-90% of the Ailor population of the kingdom lives on these shores, with the racial minorities and other Ailor living in either the inland countryside or the newly-acquired Elven realms far west. Climate Lusits’ climate is a moderate one, one tending to stagnate around the warmer temperatures almost all year. Temperatures model a docile tropical scene with blissful sea winds during most of the year while in the winter most of coastal Lusits sees a small drop in temperature and frequent small bouts of rain. As one moves inland into Lusits, however, they find a progression from this calmer tropical weather into a dry, warm plain and hillands. Further in it blends into a steaming mess of inland tropical humidity and heat, jungles ruling the inland scenes. Notable Landmarks *Portimao :The city of Portimao is the largest and richest city in Lusits, snugged comfortably between the white sand of the eastern coastline and the rolling green hills inland. Portimao sports a bustling middle class population, artisans, merchants, and guild masters thriving best in the city’s maritime infrastructure and commercial prowess. Boasting architectural masterpieces and revered centers of learning, Portimao is a city often envied and adored by many. *O Palácio Real :The Royal Palace is Lusits’ most wondrous man-made structures to ever grace Daendroc’s coasts. An edifice made of marble that was sculpted and modelled after Ithanian palatial trends, the Royal Palace is often considered one of the greatest feats of architectural beauty made thus far. Completed a mere twelve years ago, the Royal Palace has been a grand project funded by strenuous taxes on the merchant classes for almost four decades. Today, the palace is often a topic of heated debate among the coffee houses and trade warehouses of Portimao. While many of the upper middle class adore the beautiful, rich symbol of their people and kingdom, much of the less prosperous population perceive the palace as a symbol of royal decadence and excess, furthering fueling public discontent. Government Lusits runs the usual feudal monarchy that most Regalian substates operate under. Though the Queen of Lusits is the legitimate monarch and ruler of Lusits, she is hardly present or active in the kingdom’s administration. Rather, much of the ruling in Lusits falls to a small council of Lusitsian bureaucrats who operate the kingdom in its best interests. Beyond that, much of the administration and governance of Lusits is simple and clean, a clear pyramid of administrative delegation present among each province and city. List of Rulers *Before the Cataclysm to 5 A.C. - Successive Elven Governors *5 A.C. to 11 A.C. - No formal leader *11 A.C. to 59 A.C. - Serene Doge Afonso I de Lobo the Magnificent *59 A.C. to 71 A.C. - Serene Doge Paolo de Lobo *71 A.C. to 101 A.C. - Serene Doge Afonso II de Lobo the Debauch *101 A.C. to 135 A.C. - Serene Doge Emiliano de Lobo the Soldier *135 A.C. to 137 A.C. - Serene Doge Damiano de Lobo the Young *137 A.C. to 166 A.C. - Serene Doge Colombo de Lobo *166 A.C. to 192 A.C. - Serene Doge Afonso III de Lobo the Dwindler *192 A.C. to 222 A.C. - Serene Doge Afonso IV de Lobo the Ill-Ruler *222 A.C. to 240 A.C. - Serene Doge Afonso V de Lobo the Diplomat *240 A.C. - The republic is abolished in favor of a monarchy. *240 A.C. to 246 A.C. - King Afonso I de Lobo the Diplomat *246 A.C. to 299 A.C. - King Fernando de Lobo *299 A.C. to 303 A.C. - Queen Juliana de Lobo e Kade the Mad Foreign Relations Lusits’ foreign relationships parallel those of Regalia, especially with the union of Queen Juliana and the Emperor Alexander Kade. However, most of Lusits’ diplomatic relations rely mostly, if not solely on economic venture and trade. For centuries there’s often been a parallel between Ithania and Lusits, the two often compared as sibling states -- the sentiment born from the two’s frequent interaction, trade, and diplomatic alignments. Beyond the plain friendships with Ithania, Lusits has always maintained a silent, vague hostility towards surrounding states and tribes, namely the eastern Elven kingdoms and southwestern Dark Iron and Blood Clan Tribes. These sentiments still exist today, even while the eastern kingdoms remain subjugated under Lusits and the tribes pacified. Military Lusits military had been a naval based on for decades prior to the Regalian subjugation. Thanks to the Sunset Treaty, naval protection was guaranteed by the Empire while the main land-based levies earned Lusits’ main focus. Today, most of Lusits’ military is made up of conscripted youth and city-based vagabonds turned soldier. Lusits’ military mostly parallels Regalian hierarchy and training, most high-ranking officials often from or educated in Regalia. Economy and Technology Lusits has, and certainly will always be, a realm of coin. Born from trade and bred with the sea, Lusits has always been an economic power of trade, be they centers of export or method of entrepôt. Lusits mainains the Regal as their currency, exporting natural resources such as stone and lumber from camps inland. In exchange, the growing middle class of Lusits tends to import fine crafts, be it jewelry, art, or other such fineries. Lusits’ technological advancements also parallel their economic ventures. Paralleling Regalia in technological capability and advancement, the only real contribution Lusits has made to Aloria would be the Nau, a naval vessel renown for its prowess in the seas. Demographics Daendroque Ailor - 57% category:Ailor Demographics Ithanian Ailor - 11% Ceardian Ailor - 8% Regalian Ailor - 12% Talar - 10% category:Talar Demographics Other - 2% Culture Lusits has been the host to great cultural blending since its founding a few years after Cataclysm. From the constant back and forth migration among the realms in Daenshore and Ithania to its expansive international trade, Lusits is often aptly described as one of Aloria’s greatest mixing pots. However, as mixed and varied as the population is, there is still certainly a heavy presence of Daendroque tradition and customs, often incorporating areas of the D’Ithanie. In areas of law and order, Lusits borrows much of Regalia’s regulations and rules, especially their aggressive economic policies and tariffs. Many laws and policies unique to Lusits have also brought the development of a growing middle class, many of whom are active merchants, artisans, guild masters, and so on. While a lower class certainly takes up a large part of the population, the thinning amount of uber rich citizens and the growing amount of middle class city-dwellers is something of a phenomenon. Citizens of Lusits often garb themselves in expensive clothing, usually following the extravagant trends of the monarch and nobility, many of whom simply bastardize Ithanian trends. While this may be the case for the upper classes, the less fortunate populace simply make do with what they can, often wearing simple linen shirts and trousers for men and simple woolen dresses for women. Religion Lusits, ever since its annexation under Regalia, has turned from the Old Gods faith to Unionism, its practices, scripture, and ideals seemingly groomed for the expansionist, greedy population. While religion isn’t a huge part of everyday life for every citizen, it certainly maintains its significance in law and surroundings, chapels and cathedrals a rather common sight on street corners and in city squares. However, while Unionism claims the faith of many in Lusits, there are still bastions and enclaves of the older faiths, namely Old Gods and its interpretive variants. Symbols Lusits’ flag has been one to change with each successive ruler. As of present, Lusits’ current flag and standard is a gilded birdcage on a field of icy blue. Beyond Lusits’ flag, the rolling ocean waves and pristine sandy beaches often serve as motifs symbolizing the state. Even the simple Doge’s Cap is often immediately associated with the mercantile power. Trivia *The reigning monarch of Lusits, Queen Juliana de Lobo-Kade, is often seen as a fashion icon for many Ithanian courts and lobbies. *While any in Lusits are Daendroque, they speak their own variant of the language called Daendroque-Parcal, a parallel to real-life Portuguese. *Lusits, along with some other more significant vassal states under Regalia, actually maintain a substantial amount of autonomy from the Empire. Category:Geography Category:Nations and States Category:Extended Daendroc Landmass category:Daendroc category:Ailor